AustinSymphonicBand

Community In Concert

Sunday, December 6, 2009Reagan HS Performing Arts Center, Austin

Richard L Floyd, Musical Director

Director’sChoice

Then and Now

ASB Board of Directors and Officers

Musical Director & Conductor: Richard FloydPresident: Eddie Jennings

Past President: Lynn McLartyPresident Elect: Steven Neinast

Board Members At Large:Thomas Edwards

Kevin JedeleKaren Kneten

Carl VidosSecretary: Marilyn Good

Treasurer: Sharon KojzarekLibrarian: Karen VanHooser

Assistant Director: Bill HaehnelConcert Coordinator: Kevin Jedele

Transportation Manager: Chuck EllisWebmaster: David Jones

Business Manager: Dan L Wood

Thanks to our hosts: Matt Atkinson, Connally High School Director of Bands

Rehearsal SpaceOrmide Armstrong, Reagan High School Director of Bands

Equipment Use

Austin Symphonic Band7900 Centre Park Drive Ste A

Austin, Texas 78754(512) 345-7420

Web site: www.asband.orgdwood@asband.org

This concert is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division

Richard L Floyd, Musical Director

Next ASB Concerts

February 20 - ASB and Friends - LBJ HS Theater 8 pmApril 11 - On the Road Again - Reagan HS Theater 3 pm

May 9 - Mother's Day - Zilker HIllside Theater 7 pmJune 20 - Father's Day - Zilker HIllside Theater 7:30 pm

July 3 - Bastrop Patriotic FestivalJuly 4 - Round Rock Independence Day Festival

In 1983 Richard Floyd was appointed State Director of Music Activities for the University Interscholastic League at the University of Texas at Austin where he coordinates all facets of secondary school music competition for some 3500 performing organizations throughout the state of Texas. He has served as Musical Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphonic Band since 1986. Prior to his appointment at the University of Texas, he served on the faculty at the University of South Florida as Professor of Conducting, and at Baylor University in Texas where he held

the position of Director of Bands for nine years.

Performing ensembles under his direction have performed for the College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, American Bandmasters Associa-tion, and the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic, as well as numerous state and regional conferences. Mr Floyd has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe as a clinician, adjudicator, and conductor including appearances in 41 states and 9 foreign countries.

During his professional career, Mr Floyd has held positions of leadership on many state and national committees for music education and wind music performance. At present he is a member of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Board of Directors, Chairman of the American Bandmasters Association Educational Projects Committee, and has served as National Sec-retary/Treasurer of the CBDNA since 1979. He also is co-author of the resource guide, "Best Music For Beginning Band". In 2002 he was named recipient of the American School Band Directors Association A A Harding Award for significant and lasting contributions to school bands in North America. In 2006 he was named "Texas Bandmaster of the Year" by the Texas Bandmasters Association.

Program

The Sinfonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clifton Williams

Symphony for Band (Symphony No 6) . . . . . . . .Vincent Persichetti

Variations on a Shaker Melody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aaron Copland

La Fiesta Mexicana, Mvt 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H Owen Reed

Intermission

American Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David R Holsinger

Sparking Angels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthony SuterCommissioned in memory of Diane Gorzycki

Bill Haehnel, Conductor

October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eric Whitacre

Wild Nights! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frank Ticheli

Albanian Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shelley Hanson

Program Notes

The Sinfonians – James Clifton Williams, JrJames Clifton Williams, Jr (1923-1976) was born in Traskwood, Arkansas, where he played French horn, piano, and mellophone at Little Rock High School. His performance career included playing in the horn section of the San Antonio and New Orleans Symphony Orchestras and serving the Army Air Corps band as drum major. In 1949 he joined the composition department at the University of Texas School of Music where he taught until 1966 when he accepted the position of Chair of the Theory and Composition Department at the University of Miami, a position he held until his death in 1976. The musical idiom of Williams' music is conservative, and yet contemporary in concept. His use of modern instrumentation was skillful, and delights those who perform and listen to it. He was an active member of many musical organizations including Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America who commissioned this work, The Sinfonians.

The Sinfonians opens with an extended fanfare introduction before the horns state the familiar Sinfonian theme: "Hail Sinfonia! Come, brothers, hail!" The words are by Charles Lutton set to the music of Arthur Sullivan. The melody is then completed, embellished, and extended in the style of the composer. The work is dedicated to Archie N Jones, former president of the fraternity and later director of that organization's foundation. Williams conducted the first performance at the fraternity's national convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, in July 1960.

Symphony No 6 – Vincent PersichettiThe 1950s are often referred to as the Golden Age of American Band Music. Vincent Persichetti’s Symphony No 6 (1956) is one of the preeminent masterpiece of the Golden Age. Many band works of that era sound generic in their relationship to the medium — ie, they might just as well have been scored for most any medium — or sound like music conceived for symphony orchestra and reluctantly transcribed for the medium at hand. But Persichetti’s conceptions are essentially wedded to the medium, and could not be rendered by any other without fundamental distortion. Beginning in 1950, Persichetti composed 14 works for band or wind ensemble, of which five derive from that decade, and they are five of his most frequently performed compositions. But beyond considerations confined to the band medium, Persichetti was perhaps America’s greatest neo-classicist, and his Symphony No 6 is certainly one of America’s greatest neo-classical symphonies, constructed with the utmost concision, organic unity, and economy of means and purpose, all of which give rise to a sense of youthful exhilaration and revelry in the joyful exercise of compositional virtuosity.

Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (1915-1987) was an important American musical educator and writer. He was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own work and teaching, and for training many noted composers in composition at the Juilliard School. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1915, and remained a resident of that city throughout his life. Persichetti is one of the major figures in American music of the 20th century, both as a teacher and a composer. His music draws on a wide variety of thought in 20th century composition as well as Big Band music while remaining in his own distinct voice. His own style is marked by use of two elements he refers to as "graceful" and "gritty": the former being more lyrical and melodic, the lat-ter being sharp and intensely rhythmic. He frequently composed in his car, sometimes taping staff paper to the steering wheel.

Variations on a Shaker Melody – Aaron CoplandAaron Copland (1900-1990) was a Brooklyn-born American composer of concert and film music, and an accomplished pianist. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, he was widely known as "the dean of American composers". Copland's music achieved a balance be-tween modern music and American folk styles. In addition to composition, Copland was a teacher, lecturer, critic, writer, and conductor. The decade of the 1940s was arguably Copland's most productive and it firmly established his worldwide fame. His ballet scores for Rodeo (1942) and Appalachian Spring (1944) were huge successes. The commission for Appalachian Spring came from dancer Martha Graham, who had requested of Copland merely "music for an American ballet". Copland borrowed the flavor of Shaker hymns and dances, and directly used the hymn Gift to Be Simple. was Copland, himself, penned this arrangement for band. La Fiesta Mexicana – H Owen Reed H Owen Reed was born in Odessa, Missouri, on June 17, 1910. He was a pupil of both Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music. Beginning his long association with Michigan State University in 1939, he served as professor of music and head of composition until his retirement in 1976. He is the author of several books on theory and composition. In the 1930s, Reed traveled a good deal in the Americas and Europe, capturing the diversity of folk music he heard in Scandinavia, Mexico, and the Caribbean islands. La Fiesta Mexicana, a suite for full wind ensemble, has been transcribed for orchestra and was premiered by the Detroit Symphony.

Some band scholars consider La Fiesta Mexicana to be the first full symphony for band by an American composer. Certainly, it is the first to attain continued recognition and performance. The three-movement work is based on many of the impressions that Reed had during his visit to Mexico during the winter months of 1948-49, the trip part of his Guggenheim fellowship. It is a contrast between the sacred and the secular – a look at the different cultures that Reed saw as such strong features of that society. Although most of the melodies are original, several folk works appear in the symphony as well. The folk song, “El Son de la Negra”, is found in the middle of the last movement. It was, and continues to be, one of the most popular of all Mariachi tunes.

American Faces – David R HolsingerAmerican Faces was commissioned by Scott McCormick and Bands of America for the 1995 Bands of America National Honor Band. It was premiered at the National Concert Band Festival in the spring of 1995. In American Faces, Holsinger has attempted to musically allude to the multifari-ous qualities and standards that make up the "faces" of America. It is not a patriotic montage, but rather an overture of diverse themes, original and borrowed, each conveying the composer's impression of the American exuberance, pioneering spirit, and underlying faith. This piece offers a reprise of Simple Gifts from the modern perspective, some 50+ years after Copland brought it to the public eye in Appalachian Spring.

Holsinger was born on December 26, 1945, in Hardin, Missouri. He served for 15 years as music minister, worship leader, and composer in residence at Shady Grove Church in Grand Prairie before joining the School of Music faculty at Lee University, Cleveland, Tennessee. Much of Holsinger’s

Program Notes

music is characterized by unrelenting tempos, ebullient rhythms, fluctuating accents, poly-lineal textures, vigorous asymmetrical melodies, and high emotional impact.

Sparking Angels – Anthony SuterDiane Gorzycki was an Austin middle school band director (Porter and Bailey Middle Schools) who recently died after a valiant battle with cancer. She was named administrative supervisor of fine arts for the Austin Independent School District in 2006 before retiring in 2007. Many who knew Diane described how her big heart, smile, and now, her legacy, overshadowed her 4-foot-9-inch frame.

Gorzycki held a number of prominent positions including president and member of the board of directors of the University of Texas Longhorn Alumni Band. A consortium was put together for the purpose of having composers create works in her memory. Composer Anthony Suter writes of tonight’s piece, “There were a couple of things that everyone I talked to who knew Diane told me. One of them was her vast and boundless energy. I think that stuck with me. The piece is very kinetic, and even when some element of the music becomes less intense (say, a soft section), there is still a pulsing, driving force to the music that never really stops. The music has a sheen to it. It's bright, always spinning out, with flashes of color and a real sense of joy throughout. “The title of the piece is Sparking Angels. I think it fits best, because it can have a lot of different meanings. For me, it is a kind of metaphor for what really wonderful teachers like Diane do, they sort of ‘spark’ students into being better people. Of course, ‘sparks’ are about beginnings, about starting things that continue indefinitely. This seemed somehow appropriate for a piece in honor of someone like Diane, who I know ‘sparked’ a lot of young minds. I hope a title like this really allows people to take it how they feel it best fits their own way of honoring and remembering Diane.”

October – Eric WhitacreEric Whitacre, born January 2, 1970, is an American composer known primarily for his choral works, who has also become a prominent composer for concert band music. Both his choral and instru-mental styles are immediately recognizable by his signature "Whitacre chords". These are often seventh or ninth chords, with or without suspended seconds and fourths. Perhaps his most famous chord is a root-position major triad with a suspended major second and/or perfect fourth. Rhythm is also an important aspect of many pieces he writes, especially his pieces for wind band, that involve mixed, complex, and/or compound meters. His pieces are also known to include frequent meter changes and unusual rhythmic patterns.

The composer says of this work, “October is my favorite month. Something about the crisp autumn air and the subtle change in light always makes me a little sentimental, and as I started to sketch, I felt that same quiet beauty in the writing. The simple, pastoral melodies and subsequent harmonies are inspired by the great English Romantics (Vaughan Williams and Elgar) as I felt that this style was also perfectly suited to capture the natural and pastoral soul of the season. I'm quite happy with the end result, especially because I feel there just isn't enough lush, beautiful music written for winds.”

Program Notes

October was commissioned by the Nebraska Wind Consortium, Brian Anderson, Consortium Chair-man. It was premiered on May 14th, 2000.

Wild Nights! – Frank TicheliFrank Ticheli, born in1958 in Monroe, Louisiana, is an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and concert band works. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a professor of composition at the University of Southern California. Ticheli graduated from L V Berkner High School in Richardson and earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition from Southern Methodist University. He was an Assistant Professor of Music at Trinity University in San Antonio where he served on the board of directors of the Texas Composers Forum and was a member of the advisory committee for the San Antonio Symphony's "Music of the Americas" project.

Wild Nights! is based on the Emily Dickenson poem:

Wild Nights! Wild Nights!Were I with thee,Wild Nights should be Our luxury!

Futile the windsTo a heart in port, Done with the compass,Done with the chart.

Rowing in Eden!Ah! The sea!Might I but moorTonight in Thee!

Ticheli says, “I focused most heavily on the lines, 'Done with the compass/Done with the chart' and 'Rowing in Eden!/Ah the sea!' These words suggested the sense of freedom and ecstatic joy that I tried to express in my work.

"Throughout the piece, even during its darker middle section, the music is mercurial, impetuous, optimistic. A jazzy syncopated rhythmic motive permeates the journey. Unexpected events come and go, lending spontaneity and a sense of freedom.”

Wild Nights! was commissioned by the California Band Directors Association in celebration of their 50th anniversary.

Albanian Dance – Shelley Hanson This high-energy setting of the Albanian tune, Shota, recreates the festive mood of a raucous village dance. Shelley Hanson, a Twin Cities, Minnesota, composer, arranger, teacher, and profes-sional musician, has an affinity for writing and performing folk music. Her band, Klezmer and All That Jazz, recorded traditional and original music for the audio book version of the Yiddish play, The Dybbuk. Ms Hanson earned a Ph D in Performance, Music Theory, and Music Literature from Michigan State University. She is a member of the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra and serves on the faculty of Macalester College.

Program Notes

ASB Players

Larry Woods*

Tenor Saxophones

Brian Trittin

Baritone Saxophone

Steve Neinast

Bassoon

Andrea CamachoWalter PasciakBrian Provost

Bass Clarinet

Byron GiffordLynn McLarty

Trumpet

Eric BittnerGeorge GreeneKevin JedeleDavid JonesTodd LesterBruce Wagner*

French Horn

Leslie BoergerRon BoergerChuck Ellis *Marilyn GoodMichael GoodJerry HayesJo OliverCarl Vidos

Trombone

John Bodnar *

Jim CrandellDale LiningerDonald McDanielHarold SmithDerek Woods

Baritone

Allan Adelman *Neil KingJerry Schwab

Tuba

Keith ChenowethScott Hastings *Robert HeardAl MartinBuford Robins

String Bass

Thomas Edwards

Percussion

Tamara Galbi Lorena GarciaBill HaehnelJim Hubbard*Kyle KaiserAdam KempRob Ward

Harp

Lisa Duke

* Section Leader

Flute

Beth Behning Wade ChilesKyndra Cullen*Nan EllisCheryl FloydSally GrantPenny GriffyLinda LiningerBeverly LowakSue ManningKaren VanHooserKristi Wilson

Clarinet

Sara AnbariLibby Cardenas *Hank FrankenbergAnthony FrascoClifton JonesKaren KnetenRegina MabryNancy MurphyNancy S NorthClary RocchiRaymond SchroederFaith WeaverMuna Whitlock

Oboe

Fred BehningKristen Mason

Alto Saxophones

Susan AbbottEddie JenningsCindy Story

Austin Symphonic Band is pleased to acknowledge the support of the businesses, agencies, and individuals listed below. Note that we take an extended view: an organization which hires the

band for an event helps the band as much as a donor — and it give us a chance to do what we love doing! For information about becoming a sponsor of the band contact Dan L Wood,

ASB Business Manager, at (512) 345-7420.

Our Sponsors

Platinum Sponsors ($1,000+)The City of Bastrop

The City of Round Rock

Gold Sponsors ($500-$999) IBM Matching Grants

Fred BehningRandall’s Good Neighbor (Group #721)

Wicked Code

Silver Sponsors ($100-$499)Wade Chiles

Kyndra CullenShirley Dusky

Thomas EdwardsSally Grant

Marilyn Good & Dan WoodPenny Griffy

Eddie JenningsSteve Neinast

Bronze Sponsors ($50-$99)

Ruth Hooks

Friends ($10-$49) Kevin JedeleFaith Weaver

High C Project ParticipantsBeth BehningFred Behning

Hank FrankenbergGeorge GreeneScott HastingsLinda Lininger

Bob MillerSteve NeinastKristi Wilson

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